Opponents: Bill to close 'gun show loophole' wouldn't cut crime

OLYMPIA -- Gun rights advocates packed two Senate hearing rooms Thursday as those in favor of gun control moved to expand background-check requirements to gun shows.

After many years of failed attempts, the Senate is poised to pass a bill to close the so-called gun show loophole out of committee and possibly on to a full floor vote.

Once again, opponents tried to shoot the measure down with a barrage of statistics to show that the proposal would do next to nothing to reduce violent crime while infringing on the rights of law-abiding gun sellers.

"This will be the first step to register all private gun transactions," said National Rifle Association lobbyist Brian Judy. "What this bill is about is expanding the database of Washington gun owners."

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Tom said it simply requires gun show sellers to conduct the same checks required of most gun retailers, checks that prevented 2,400 gun sales to convicted felons or people with a history of mental illness in Washington state last year.

Opponents cited a 10-year-old federal study that showed that fewer than 1 percent of weapons used in violent crimes came from gun shows.

Testifying in support of SB 5197, Seattle police Chief Gil Kerlikowske noted that undocumented gun sales, which are common at gun shows, are the reason few current crime statistics can be linked to gun show sales.

"I think it always helpful in government to reread 'Catch-22' every four or five years, and then the course of answers becomes clear," he said, referring to the Joseph Heller novel about the absurdity of war.

"If there is no record of the sale and no background check then there is little evidence of the number of sales that were denied or of the number of crime guns that come from gun shows. This legislation will fix that."

Even if the measure moves out of the Senate, it will face strong opposition in the House.

Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, said he and several members of his caucus support the proposal -- but the majority and most Republicans do not.

"We have a Legislature that represents the entire state," Chopp said, alluding to the fact that requiring background checks at gun shows is primarily an urban issue.

He said his reluctance to pick up the issue was not politically motivated, but rather a reflection of the wide-ranging views of his members.

"We have several members in our caucus for example, who are NRA members," Chopp said. "There's nowhere near enough votes to pass the bill."

Instead of gun control, Chopp said, House Democrats want to reduce violence in society by improving mental health services and school safety.

Chopp said the statistics have not been convincing enough to change opponents' minds.

"It's a dilemma," Chopp said. "We've talked with the police chief and I've said ... 'I agree with you but people have different points of view.' "

Chopp said that Kerlikowske lacked statistics to make his case, and that he would be surprised if the Senate passes the bill.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said the bill's fortune is unclear but not overly bright.

She said that even if her caucus supported the measure, the fact that it has been deemed a non-starter in the House would likely prevent her from spending hours debating it in the full Senate.

"Some people feel (Chopp) has simply got to deal with this," Kline said.

"Now we've got hunters, cops -- real people -- not just liberals, who want to decrease the flow of guns into criminal hands."

To those who say the measure will not completely cut off the flow of guns into criminal hands, Kline said: "They are right!"

But he said the proposed law is a common-sense, middle-ground approach to dealing with guns getting into the wrong hands.

At the Senate hearing, Michael Brown of Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws said gun control efforts are a reaction to "a lot of junk information" generated by rich people with an agenda.

Committee Chairwoman Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles, D-Seattle, is also a sponsor of the bill. With a Democratic majority, she said she thinks she can pass the bill out of committee and possibly win on the Senate floor.